The Long Life of a Dead King: A Bronze Statue from Hazor in Its Ancient Near Eastern Context

Abstract

A Middle Bronze Age gold-coated bronze statue of a seated king found in a Late Bronze Age context on the acropolis of Tel Hazor is interpreted as an old icon of a dead king whose image was still meaningful centuries after its production. It is suggested that the Middle Bronze Age royal statue was used by a Late Bronze Age king of Hazor to reinforce his rule. The article discusses the role played by statues of dead kings in the memory of the past and their use in royal self-legitimization in second-millennium Syria and the Levant. The food provided to the dead in the Beyond, as recorded in ancient Near Eastern myths, is compared with the food and drink offered to the dead by the living, as documented in texts and archaeological finds. Consequently, the possibility of recognizing deified rulers in the archaeological record is examined, and a minimalist view of the powers of dead kings is suggested.

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